Colt Dragoon

The Colt "Dragoon" (meaning "Dragon" in French) was the brainchild of Samuel Colt himself and went on to become one of his most successful revolver creations in the history of firearms. Colt originally designed the revolver to fulfill a US Army requirement for their Army Mounted Rifles - known better as "Dragoons", soldiers trained to fight on horseback or on foot with equal lethality. Additionally, problems inherent in the sheer size of the preceding Colt Walker made the Dragoon a viable transitional replacement. The Colt Dragoon offered up a lighter weight, shorter cylinder and improved loading lever. During its production life, the Colt Dragoon proved quite popular with military and civilians alike and was produced to the tune of some 18,000 in the United States alone with an unknown number also produced through the London Armory between 1851 and 1855.

The Dragoon appeared just as America's war with Mexico was drawing to a close. Too late for use in that conflict, the Dragoon was put to good effect in the ensuing American Civil War as both military and civilian forces alike treasured the man-stopping qualities and accuracy of the weapon. As with most memorable weapons in history, actual war inevitably writes a favorable or dastardly review and makes them what they are to us today - and the American Civil War did just that for Samuel Colt's Dragoon line.

The Colt Dragoon featured a single-action firing mechanism optimized for .44 caliber ammunition. It appeared in three known models (with the exception of a fourth in the "Baby Dragoon" pocket pistol derivative if included) known simply as the First Model, Second Model and Third Model Colt Dragoon Revolvers. Differences between the First and Second Models were minimal with the most obvious being the shape of the notches on the cylinder sides. Up until the 10,000th Second Model, the Dragoon featured the V-type mainspring but these eventually gave way to a flat leaf mainspring. The Third Model proved the most distinct in that it offered up an optional attachment in the way of a shoulder stocks and featured folding leaf sights. The Third Model also was designed with a rounded trigger guard as opposed to the squareback types found in the preceding two designs. The Dragoon inherited the integrated loading cut-outs for simpler seating of the percussion caps from the Colt Walker.

The Colt Dragoon was eventually replaced on the lines by the Colt Model 1860 revolver. Nevertheless, the weapon system proved a favorite among its users, so much so in fact, that the weapon continues to fetch top dollar in todays collector market. Non-firing and firing replicas are available for purchase in the United States with a little bit of online research.

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Last Updated: 4/16/2009